Controversies and second thoughts, the complicated story of Rovelli in Frankfurt
Just 24 hours after the letter with which he communicated to Charles Rovelli the cancellation of his speech at the opening ceremony of the book Fair of Frankfurt, Ricardo Franco Levi retraces his steps and renews the invitation to the physicist to participate in the inaugural event. In a note, the extraordinary commissioner of the Government for the 2024 Book Fair explains first of all that he wrote that letter “without having received any pressure or solicitation” and that he did so “in order to rigorously fulfill the institutional responsibility that was conferred on me with a decree of the President of the Republic”.
Then, Levi clarifies: “I’m sensitive and I welcome with satisfaction statements Of government officials which confirm the will to guarantee open participation in the Frankfurt Fair, in compliance with the principle and defense of the pluralism of thought and ideas”. Levi also says that he appreciated “the understanding expressed by the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) for the reasons for institutional prudence which had led me to the choices expressed as Commissioner” and to have accepted the hope of renewing the invitation to Professor Rovelli in Frankfurt.
Levi explains to La Stampa what convinced him to change his mind: “Two things, I would say: on the one hand, confirmation came from many quarters that there was no government pressure in this regard, and therefore that that position was mine alone, and had as its aim the serenity of Italian participation and openness to the personalities present”. To the Corriere della Sera, Levi explains that the choice was his and that he is not resigning.
And now the ball passes to the physicist who was the first to raise the case by posting the letter from the commissioner of the German Book Fair on Facebook. “Italy – the professor had said – asked me to represent it at the opening ceremony but since I dared to criticize the defense minister (last May 1, from the stage of the Concertone in Rome, ed) my speech was cancelled”.
At that point the world of culture, starting with the Feltrinelli Group, e the opposition (from the M5s president Giuseppe Conte to Cecilia D’Elia, leader of the Democratic Party in the School, Research and Culture Commission, ending with the national secretary of the Italian Left Nicola Fratoianni) they shouted at the censorship. The government has firmly ruled out having exerted pressure.
The Minister of Defense was among the first to take a stand Guido Crosetto, cahe recalled on Twitter that he doesn’t even know Levi in person. Concepts then reiterated in a long note in which he said he was sorry to “disappoint the Italian conspiracy experts, who are always on duty” and said he was “absolutely certain that no member of the government or of the institutions has exerted any pressure or made requests to Italian publishers in order not to let Prof. Rovelli keep his inaugural speech”. More: he hoped that the decision would be reviewed. And that Rovelli can see his invitation renewed.
The Minister of Culture is on the same wavelength Gennaro Sangiuliano: “I learn with great surprise of the story, unprecedented for me, of the physicist Carlo Rovelli – he admitted – and of the subsequent letter from the commissioner who takes care of the organization. In general, having undergone censures, I am against inflicting them on others”.
The distancing of the had also arrivedItalian Publishers Association who had asked Levi, its president, to confirm the presence of the physicist in Frankfurt. “The IEA – explained in a note – has always placed freedom of expression and of the press at the center of its institutional mission. He has always defended her, and he intends to continue to do so, at every opportunity. We wouldn’t be publishers if we didn’t put authors and their free thought at the center of our work”.
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